Specifications

Over Voltage Protection Under Voltage Protection Over Power Protection Short Circuit Protection

Cooling

140 mm Double Ball-Bearing Fan (HA1425M12B-Z)

Semi-passive operation

Yes (selectable)

Dimensions

150 mm (W) x 86 mm (H) x 200 mm (D)

Weight

3 kg

Compliance

ATX12V v2.2, EPS 2.92

Warranty

5 years

Price at time of review (exc. VAT)

$243

This unit can deliver 1kW of power and meets the requirements of the 80 Plus efficiency rating. SF actually states that efficiency meets the demands of the still unreleased Titanium level with 230 VAC, which we will proceed to figure out for ourselves in this review. As already mentioned, the unit is fully modular and it is, since it utilizes DC-DC converters for the generation of the minor rails, also Haswell ready.

With an upper limit of 50°C, the operating temperature range is pretty wide, but its available protections unfortunately don't include OTP (Over Temperature Protection). Considering this unit has a semi-fanless option, we would feel safer if OTP was included. High-end PSUs like this one should really be equipped with all available protections. Cooling is handled by a 140 mm fan with double ball-bearings, so it will last for quite a long time. That said, this type produces more noise than the inferior quality sleeved-bearing one, making a, in our opinion, FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) fan a better choice, but the latter doesn't come cheap.

The unit's dimensions are pretty large because of its increased length, and the warranty is long enough at five years. The price looks good compared to that of equivalent models by the competition.

SF-1000F-14MP Power Specs

Rail

3.3V

5V

12V

5VSB

-12V

Max. Power

20A

20A

83.3A

2.5A

0.5A

100W

999.6W

12.5W

6W

Total Max. Power

1000W

The single +12V rail is very strong since it can deliver over 83 A of current, but the 5VSB rail is kind of weak for a unit of this capacity. The minor rails also have a relatively low combined capacity, but it will suffice for a modern system.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

Modular Cables

ATX connector (600mm)

20+4 pin

4+4 pin EPS12V (700mm)

2

6+2 pin PCIe (600mm) / 6 pin PCIe (+125mm)

1 / 1

6+2 pin PCIe (600mm)

4

SATA (550mm+125mm+125mm+125mm)

8

SATA (550mm+125mm) / 4 pin Molex (+125mm+125mm)

2 / 2

4 pin Molex (540mm+130mm+130mm) / FDD (+130mm)

3 / 1

The PSU has enough cables for its capacity, although the recent trend dictates 1 kW PSUs to have eight PCIe connectors. That said, four high-end VGAs need at least 1.2 kW, especially if they are overclocked.

The length off all cables is adequate and the distance amongst connectors is sufficient. Some wires of the main ATX cable and almost all of the PCIe and EPS connectors are 16AWG for lower voltage drops at higher loads, but all the other connectors use standard 18AWG gauges.

Since this PSU features a single +12V rail, we do not have anything to comment on about its power distribution.